This paper clarifies and updates some issues of life expectancy in cerebral palsy. These are: (1) the definition of life expectancy and how it is calculated; (2) the secular trends that have occurred since the data for the 1998 paper were collected; (3) revised estimates reflecting improvements of some of the analytical methods and statistics provided in that paper; (4) comparison of life expectancies among countries; (5) issues regarding quality of care; and (6) consideration of prospective life expectations in addition to current life expectancy.